The Elmhurst Park District is n the process of constructing a dog park after residents’ feedback, and it is expected that the park, on 3.4 acres, with open in the spring. In one photo, a new restroom was just installed on Dec. 16, as one of the amenities for members.
The Elmhurst Park District listened to residents when they said they would like a dog park, so the new “Canine Corner” is on its way to becoming a reality, according to park district Executive Director Jim Rogers.
The idea for providing residents with a dog park goes back at least as far as 2017, he said, when the park district purchased land on Old York Road from a developer, who had purchased property that used to be a mobile home park.
Even back then, he continued, “We thought it would be a potential spot for a dog park … it had potential back then.”
In 2018, as part of the park district’s “master plan,” the board of commissioners gave its approval for a dog park. It subsequently became a high priority in what was then called the Vision 2020 Plan—which Rogers said was a “comprehensive and strategic plan”—that morphed into what is now called Elevate Elmhurst Parks.
In 2018, “We [asked for] a lot of resident feedback,” Rogers mentioned, conducting public meetings and having a landscape architect firm draw up a master plan—which he said is roughly the same plan as the one pictured in this article.
The COVID-19 pandemic essentially put the project on hold, Rogers recounted, but then, “We were able to come back to it in the last couple of years.”
He said the project is slated to cost $2.2 million, and emphasized is not part of the nearly $90 million referendum approved Nov. 5 by voters to construct a new Joanne B. Wagner Community Center and make improvements and upgrades to other park district facilities.
It was “in the budget prior to the referendum,” Rogers continued, adding that the park district received a $250,000 grant from the State of Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity—which was secured by state Rep. Jenn Ladisch-Douglass from the 45th District.
The grant, he said appreciatively, “has been very helpful” in offsetting some of the cost of the project.
Rogers said the park district began clearing the property earlier this year, and in August, the Elmhurst Board of Park Commissioners, in honor of National Dog Day, held an event for the Canine Corner’s groundbreaking.
While the park district’s website indicated the park would likely be completed by the end of this year, Rogers said “delays in getting permits” for construction have pushed back the opening to what he expects to be spring of 2025.
Canine Corner—the only dog park in Elmhurst—will feature many amenities for both dogs and their humans, such as a dog splash pad, human and canine drinking fountains, waste bag dispensers, pathways with seating, play areas for both large and small dogs, a water feature, an agility course, a natural hill and tunnel, a shelter, a pergola with bench seating, a restroom and storage facility, and a parking lot.
“The park will expand offerings and level of services provided to the community, as well as provide a safe place for dogs to be off-leash while reducing the number of off-leash dogs in parks,” the park district website explains. “This addition will enable the park district to offer a secure place for dogs to be off-leash in a park.”
With the membership-based dog park slated to open next spring, Rogers said he expects residents to make full use of the facility and its amenities.
“Dog ownership is very high in Elmhurst,” he commented, and the park district listened to the requests for a local dog park, “[so] they didn’t have to travel outside of Elmhurst to enjoy that.”
“We’re excited to be expanding our offering, meeting this need,” Rogers concluded, adding that he expects memberships to go on sale in 2025.
For more information on Elevate Elmhurst Parks and the Canine Corner, visit www.epd.org and follow the links.